Help! -B.A -> Au.D

[Azalien]

Hi All,

I am a recent B.A regular Communications graduate, in my final semester I realized I had a passion for health, I chose to minor in Health Promotion but I took no hardcore sciences or medical classes as an undergrad. I am really interested in applying for an Au.D program (Especially at Gallaudet) but I am worried that my previous degree and lack of health credits do not make me very competitive. Is there any advice anyone can give me on how I can stand out or make myself a better candidate?

I appreciate any help or advice.
Thanks

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[HearBetter]

Hi Azalien,

1st-year audiology student here. First thing you should do is to look up and complete all the prerequisites for the audiology programs you are applying to. You should be able to complete these at a community college and most programs have similar/same requirements. Your educational background is not much of a problem. Effective communication is the goal of audiology and while your degree is not the same as communication science/disorders, I think you can easily argue that your background has a lot to contribute in the field. I met so many audiologists who have random, non-science background in undergrad so I don't think you should worry about your educational background. However, in order for you to become a better candidate or even "a" candidate, you should seek to observe and volunteer. Reach out to local audiologists and ask to observe/volunteer (obviously when this COVID-19 crisis is over). You must have a good idea of what audiologists do and you should be able to show that in your applicant essay. The board at my school (and probably at other places) is not very fond of applicants who just have a passion but no idea of what they are applying to, even if the applicants have a great GPA/GRE. This is because students enter the program without proper expectations of what the job entails and they end up leaving because it's not what they wanted. So do yourself a favor by seeing if YOU actually like what an audiologist does. Let me know if you have more questions.

 

[Azalien]

That is such helpful advice, thank you very much!

 

[Azalien]

Hey again @HearBetter, In your opinion from what you have heard/seen what you consider to be the minimum GRE score to be considered?
I understand the GRE score is not all that is taken into account, but what would you say the minimum would need to be for a program to find it acceptable or impressive?

 

[HearBetter]

Like you mentioned, GRE score is just one of the things and each school may weigh one thing more heavily than another. I am attaching a link below which will direct you to ASHA EdFind. On here you can find audiology school information, which includes things like accreditation status, student profile (range of GPA & GRE scores of accepted students), etc.

ASHA EdFind